Salford University, one of the universities involved in the Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement

Parrot of Doom, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The vice-chancellors of five Greater Manchester universities signed The Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement at a meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on Friday 24 September.

The universities involved are the University of Bolton, The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford.

Moreover, the Agreement was also signed by the principal of the Royal Northern College of Music and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and the ten local authority leaders of the city region.

“The Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement is the biggest and most ambitious partnership of its kind in the country covering two cities, eight boroughs and 2.8 million people and outlines how we will work together to level up our city region through innovation, reach our climate ambitions and support the creation of educational pathways into good quality jobs.”

Following consultation with political and civic leaders and the results of polling carried out with residents of Greater Manchester, the Agreement contains a series of pledges for collective action on six priority areas of education and skills.

The priority areas are: reducing inequalities; jobs and growth; the digital economy; net-zero; and the creative and cultural economy.

The University of Salford posted a statement on their website which says: “Our residents also recognise the role that universities can play in meeting these priorities, whether this is through job creation, widening participation or the training of professionals.

“Key priorities in the Agreement include Innovation GM, which is the £7bn innovation blueprint for the city-region and supporting the growth of the digital economy through initiatives that our University is involved in, such as the AI Foundry and the Cyber Foundry.”

Innovation GM and the Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement:

Included in Innovation GM are AI Foundry and Cyber Foundry.

The Greater Manchester AI Foundry is a project that supports local, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance or develop new products and services.

The Cyber Foundry helps businesses investigate the potential for cyber innovation to support business growth and productivity through defence, market differentiation, and diversification. 

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